In 1997 there was an election ritual in Iran and the dear Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei anointed President Khatami. He was the first clergy of the Iranian ruling regime who smiled. American elites took a sigh of relief, called him the intellectual, and went out of their way to invite him and give him their platforms to speak to them. They all ignored the slaughter and imprisonment of thousands of university students who had voted for him. However, while Americans were naively looking for friendship, President Khatami was distracting them from the establishment of their nuclear program by his charm offensive. Eight years later, a high ranking member of the State Department asked my opinion about Ahmadinejad, the newly anointed president of Iran. I said: "He is a nobody, his educational accolades are overstated, he does not even understand the meaning of the word intellect and he is a crass." Six months later, they told me I was right. Not only the State Department, but...(Read Full Post)